Charles Lane

Washington, D.C.

Editorial writer and columnist

Education: Harvard College, BA in social studies; Yale Law School, MSL

Charles Lane is a Post editorial writer and a weekly columnist. Lane joined The Post in 2000 as an editorial writer, did a stint as The Post’s Supreme Court reporter and then rejoined the editorial board in 2007. Previously, he was editor and a senior editor of the New Republic from 1993 to 1999 and a foreign correspondent for Newsweek from 1987 to 1993. He is the author of three books on U.S. history and legal affairs; he is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
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Latest from Charles Lane

New data show a dire forecast about incarceration rates didn’t come true

A new study shows that incarceration rates have been trending down for two decades and that Black men are the biggest beneficiaries.

July 12, 2023

U.S. institutions are polling about as well as King George III did in 1776

There is simply no denying — or ignoring — the steady erosion of public confidence in the pillars of our 247-year-old democracy.

July 6, 2023

This is the end of Republican moderation on race in higher education

With affirmative action ruling, the Supreme Court, as it did on abortion, disrupted a constitutional doctrine that it had initially forged in the mid-1970s.

June 29, 2023

What happened in Russia — and what happens next? Our columnists weigh in.

Yevgeniy Prigozhin's coup-that-wasn't has left the world wondering what happens next in Russia — and in Ukraine. The Post's columnists share their insights.

June 26, 2023

Even by Trump-era GOP standards, this is a base pander

To curry favor with the ultra-right, Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence are trying to relitigate the removal of Confederate names from U.S. military bases.

June 14, 2023

The White House should retire this lame talking point on student loans

An objective compare-and-contrast between Biden’s student loan plan and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) would favor Biden’s critics.

June 12, 2023

The World Bank provides much-needed rationality about global migration

Plagued by political mood swings, the debate over immigration could benefit from a bank's cool, calculating perspective.

May 24, 2023

When it comes to public transportation, there is no free ride

The something-for-nothing thinking behind zero-fare big-city buses is so flawed that economics even gave it a name.

May 19, 2023

The debt limit law has its benefits. At least it used to.

Laws depend on a minimum of national consensus to support them. The debt crisis will provide a reality check on how much damage has been done to that consensus.

May 10, 2023

Overuse of ‘existential threat’ is a crisis of existential proportions

The danger of a U.S. government default is bad enough without extravagant language adding to everyone's misery.

May 3, 2023